NAME
ln —
make links
SYNOPSIS
ln |
[-fs] source_file
[target_file] |
ln |
[-fs] source_file ...
[target_dir] |
DESCRIPTION
Theln utility creates a new directory entry (linked
file) which has the same modes as the original file. It is useful for
maintaining multiple copies of a file in many places at once without using up
storage for the “copies”; instead, a link “points”
to the original copy. There are two types of links; hard links and symbolic
links. How a link “points” to a file is one of the differences
between a hard or symbolic link.
The options are as follows:
-f- Unlink any already existing file, permitting the link to occur.
-s- Create a symbolic link.
By default ln makes
hard links. A hard
link to a file is indistinguishable from the original directory entry; any
changes to a file are effective independent of the name used to reference
the file. Hard links may not normally refer to directories and may not span
file systems.
A symbolic link contains the name of the file to which it is linked. The referenced file is used when an open(2) operation is performed on the link. A stat(2) on a symbolic link will return the linked-to file; an lstat(2) must be done to obtain information about the link. The readlink(2) call may be used to read the contents of a symbolic link. Symbolic links may span file systems and may refer to directories.
Given one or two arguments, ln creates a
link to an existing file source_file. If
target_file is given, the link has that name;
target_file may also be a directory in which to place
the link; otherwise it is placed in the current directory. If only the
directory is specified, the link will be made to the last component of
source_file.
Given more than two arguments, ln makes
links in target_dir to all the named source files. The
links made will have the same name as the files being linked to.
SEE ALSO
link(2), lstat(2), readlink(2), stat(2), symlink(2), symlink(7)
HISTORY
A ln command appeared in
Version 6 AT&T UNIX.